Made in Baltimore, a store that showcases the creativity and craftsmanship of local makers and artists, is saying goodbye to Harborplace.
A representative for the store said on Friday that the last day it’s open will be Sunday, June 28. He said the business, a program of the Baltimore Development Corp. (BDC), will likely have pop-up sales events around the city once its Harborplace location is closed.
The store is located on the first level of the Light Street pavilion, 301 Light Street. It feeds into other two retail spaces, the BOOST (Black Owned and Operated Storefront Tenancy) Boutique and The Official CIAA Store, which sells officially licensed collegiate apparel. Representatives for those operations say they will be open past Sunday.
Representatives for MCB Real Estate, the owner of Harborplace, have said the company plans to tear down the Harborplace pavilions at Pratt and Light streets to make way for a $900 million mixed-use development containing apartments, offices, shops, restaurants and open space.
MCB has not given a firm date for when all merchants must vacate the premises, but officials said at a subcontractors outreach event this month that they’re aiming to start the first phase of construction in the fourth quarter of 2026. The closing of the Made in Baltimore store is a sign that the exodus is beginning.
The roots of the Made in Baltimore program can be traced to 2015, when a network of makers and makerspaces called the Industrial Arts Collective (IAC) ran the first “Made in Baltimore Pop-Up Shop” in Baltimore’s Station North neighborhood. The shop featured products from more than 80 businesses. The goal was to give Baltimoreans a way to buy locally-made products all in one place.
A year and a half later, IAC co-organizer Andy Cook founded the Made in Baltimore program as part of Baltimore’s Office of Sustainability. A central feature of the program is that participating businesses can use the ‘MIB’ logo on their product packaging to let shoppers know they’re supporting a local business. In 2018 it became a BDC program.
Made in Baltimore moved into the Light Street Pavilion in October of 2023. With 6,000 square feet of space, the Harborplace store is “our largest and most visible storefront location yet,” according to its 2024 Lookbook. “Being at the Inner Harbor has revived and deepened our love of our city’s amazing waterfront.”
The Harborplace store features the work of more than 65 vendors, the Lookbook states. “Everything in this store has been printed, stitched, cut, cast or crafted right here in Charm City,” says a sign on display in the store.
To date, Made in Baltimore has supported more than 200 product-based businesses in Baltimore through retail, business development programs and media campaigns, and its annual retail concepts have generated more than $200,000 in sales revenue for local makers, according to its website.
More information about the Made in Baltimore program, including a map showing other places where some of the makers’ products can be purchased, is available at www.madeinbaltimore.org
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